Evidence-Based Medicine
In the 1990s, the lines blurred between the proper practice of medicine and the medical industry boom of procedures, devices, products, treatments and diagnostic tests available for a vast array of diseases. This has led to many choices in how physicians extend, transform and save the lives of their patients. However, in some cases these medical products have presented complications or potentially harmful side effects.
Evidence-based medicine rose as a widely accepted system to grade the reliability of the most recent information reported in research studies, on a medical device, procedure, product or diagnostic test. Evidence-based medicine will enable physicians to make sound medical decisions that will enhance overall wellness and improve quality of life for their patients.
Today, physicians can give their patients choices on the latest treatments available, coupled with an understanding of how the lives of other patients with the same disease are reacting to these products, tests or procedures. This valuable understanding is due to the merits of evidence-based medicine.
If a physician practices evidence-based medicine, he or she is combining his or her individual clinical expertise with the total field of knowledge gained from outside experts who have compared and reported how their groups of patients reacted to a specific medical treatment. This information presents a calculated prediction of the risks and benefits for his or her patient.
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